I was visiting a friend recently who has taken up genealogy in retirement. The Internet has been a big help in tracing her ancestors, but DNA changed everything. She took the two big saliva tests and made her genes available for all other testers to see. What a surprise when her unknown half-brother sent her an email. It turned out her father had an affair before he met her mother and Bill (not his real name) was the result.
Bill lives in a state that voted overwhelmingly for a politician that my friend despises. She fears Bill is a supporter so they don't talk politics when they chat on the phone. Bill lives in a nursing home a thousand miles distant and my friend does not intend to visit her long-lost brother, though she will continue to exchange Christmas and birthday cards.
I would like to know more about my ancestors, but once I go back a few generations, I have hundreds of great-grandparents. Which line should I focus on? There's bound to be a few psychopaths mixed in with the geniuses.
DNA testing shows what a hodgepodge each of us is. My father-in-law, Karl-Enar, has Swedish parents, but his DNA shows he's 30% Finnish, along with small fractions from other European countries. Perhaps that long-ago reindeer herder decided he liked Sweden better than Finland. Or the French sailor who came ashore in the Gulf of Bothnia and became enamored of great grandmother Helga. There may be marriage records somewhere, but wooden churches are notorious for burning down. My legacy will be these posts to show my descendants what they missed.
So did you do the DNA-thingy, or are you teasing us by making us wonder if so? I once did a family tree on my father's side when I was in my 20s. It was all from Syria with one Greek doctor an exception. The info did not come from DNA tests, but rather from the tales and times of just about every significant person my grandfather's age, and esp. him. Everybody came out squeaky clean with the exception of a chickpea vendor where cometh hummus. Apparently, he had a shady deal or two in a back alley in Damascus. We WA writers should make a "project" out of finding out and publishing interesting bits and pieces from our family histories. BTW, the chickpea vendor's name was Adamany - all short a's. Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteNo DNA tests for me thank you. I’m happy in my ignorance
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